We have learned the secret

Salt Lake City Temple

Here is what we usually do. In the weeks following General Conference we will gather the kids around the computer and watch a speaker or two through online video. Typically we battle with them to pay any attention at all and then spend almost as long as the talk was trying to retell it to them to insure they get something out of it. Anotherwords, they don't want to sit and listen to some old guy rambling on, and they get nothing from it.

Choir in old Tabernacle

Today when the kids got home from school they started begging Lisa if we could watch some more conference today - especially our youngest two (JT and Cenny). They were quite upset when we said we couldn't today because Lisa and I began our Dave Ramsey Financial Peace classes. How did we achieve such rapid turn-around with the kids - and it only took 30 seconds??

Well on Monday I was reviewing the commentary about conference on the blog By Common Consent when I saw comment 134 by Rob on the Saturday Afternoon thread. It said:

So, to keep our children engaged, my wife is picking one word for each session. As we watch the session, if the key word is spoken, there is a bowl of candy and each person can get a piece of candy. For this session, the word is Temple. My 14 year old daughter complained at the start of the session that they wouldn’t use that word enough. We’ve each had the opportunity to partake from the bowl 7 times this session — 5 during the statistical report, and 2 during Elder Pino’s talk.

So we opened a bag of Sweet Tart Jelly Beans and told the kids the word was "Faith." They all sat riveted to Elder Hales talk and upon review they all could tell me exactly what it was about. I think we got the jelly beans three times. Our kids are now conference fiends!

And once again another opening in the big chairs and I was yet again passed over - for this yahoo.

Elder Neil Andersen

Crazy, I know.